Below is a growing list of Scripture verses that speak to certain truths taught by the Church. Those verses with an asterisk * are “proof-texts often used by Protestants and others to try to make objections to these teachings. I am working on providing further explanation of these verses and linking them back t o this page by topic, so stay tuned

THE CHURCH

Mt 16:18-19 – upon this rock I will build my Church

Mt 18:17 – if he refuses to listen even to the Church…

Mt 28:18-20 – go baptize and teach all nations

Mk 16:15-16 – go to whole world and proclaim gospel

Lk 10:16 – whoever hears you, hears me; rejects you, rejects me.

Jn 14:16, 26 – Holy Spirit with you always, teach/remind you of everything

The second paragraph explains the asterisk. Basically, those particular verses are often used by Protestants as proof texts in their attempts to counter the Church’s teachings such as Purgatory, the Communion of Saints, etc.

How do you reconcile someone who is divorced, but has received a positive petition of nullity? Would not it be a violation of the faith to allow such a practice since it runs contrary to the verses that you listed, has no support outside of the Church traditions, and is not supported in scripture?

A Declaration of Nullity does not run contrary to God’s plan as evidenced in Sacred Scripture or Sacred Tradition. This is part of the authority that Jesus gave to the Church, starting with Peter (office of the papacy in today’s terminology) and the Apostles (bishops today) in concert with Peter.

So, when a person or couple seek an annulment, the Church conducts and investigation under her authority in order to determine whether the validity of the marriage. The Church would look into whether proper form or matter existed for this Sacrament of Holy Matrimony:

— Was someone coerced into marriage?
— Did they fully comprehend the commitment?
— Were they open to children?
— Was proper form followed?
— Etc.

These are just some examples of items the Church looks into. If the Church determines that the marriage was invalid then they declare that the marriage never existed. The marriage is null and void.

Thus, if the couple were never married they are free to formalize their marriage, as was my case, or even civilly divorce and enter into a new and valid marriage.

But the Church can’t “bind and loose” a marriage! The Church does NOT have the authority to loose a valid marriage, and abuses DO occur in marriage tribunals, as I will tell a real example in just a minute. Binding and loosing have more to do with Confession. “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, whose sins you retain are retained,” that sort of thing. Further, you need to warn people that if a marriage tribunal fails to follow the Church’s guidelines properly, they can make a mess of marriage and family life, and hurting spouses need a fair chance to appeal to a higher church court to challenge a declaration of nullity before anybody is allowed to “marry” someone new. Here’s a serious case scenario of a couple I know: The man’s first marriage was given an “annulment” (misnomer of a word because the Church can’t MAKE the marriage null, but can only discern – if handling the case properly -whether it had been null in the beginning) – anyway – his first marriage was declared null; he had never even met his child from that marriage because they separated when the wife was still pregnant; the tribunal took the man’s word for his side of the story but never bothered to find where the wife went to ask her side of the story; the tribunal never investigated to see if “re-marriage” to a second woman would be good or bad for the child; the child was only elementary school age when the man married a second woman; the child came at the age of 14 to look for his father and found him married to another woman. The second woman was told by different priests that a child can adjust to all this, but she learned the hard way that this is untrue because the child of the first marriage suffered horribly and never recovered even when he got into his 30’s. The second wife also learned the hard way that marriage tribunals don’t make infallible decisions, they can mess up horribly – and yes, the husband, whether of the first woman or of the second, admitted that nobody heard the first wife’s side of the story. Then the second wife also learned that her diocese had the highest rate of marriage breakups and tribunal messups in the country, possibly the world, based on what a priest who worked within that system admitted. The second wife finally began to question how she and the man she married could be so misled within the Church, even though she remains a committed Catholic, but the whole family suffered because of this scandal, and they are not the only family who are injured by an erring marriage tribunal who grossly mishandled a case. So that’s why I say, it’s dangerous if you tell people that the Church can just bind and loose marriages, just like that. Please clarify your words so that you don’t cause anybody else to suffer what that family is now suffering, especially children, and so that you don’t misconstrue what the Bible really means about binding and loosing. “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” The Church does NOT have the authority to “loose” a valid marriage! Please clarify this! Thank you!

****Let me be clear though – the Church cannot — nothing on earth but death —- can dissolve a valid marriage. That is why the Church will and can never redefine what marriage is. The Church didn’t make those rules – God did.****

Bonnie,

Your points are true and sentiments are valid, except to 2 items. The first is that you misunderstood (my fault for failing to detail) my comment about marriage, nullity and the Church’s authority to bind and loose. This is why I’m an amatuer and not a professional.

When referencing this authority I wanted to highlight that the Church is authorized to investigate and rule on the state/validity of a marriage. The Church absolutely CANNOT loosen or invalidate a valid marriage but it can fallibly determine that a marriage is null (meaning the marriage was never valid in the first place) similar to how a priest can infallibly give a valid absolution. In other words, the Tribunal (and a priest) can only has their human intellect and ability, ultimately the validity of a marriage and a confession lies with God at the root. However, as faithful Catholics we can justly (and should) take the these declarations and move forward – presuming that we’ve done our part and provided all information truthfully. Thus the some of the key stakeholders in confession and/or a tribunal would not be culpable of someone else’s failure (e.g., priest is not at fault for absolving someone if they truly believe the confession is valid and those receiving a declaration of nullity would not be at fault for remarrying if it is later found (on earth or heaven) that a Tribunal declared without proper investigation, etc.)

In the example you provided, the other party surely has to right to contest the findings of the original Tribunal and request an appeal (I’m not a Canon lawyer but I’m certain there has to be a way).

Beyond that, the lasting psychological impact on others involved in marriage, including children, are something that must always be dealt with regarding a nullity or no. That is where faith in the Christ and His Church are key for God is perfect and just all will be made right in the end. And the Church is everlasting and authoritative but is run by sinners and imperfect beings who often make errors.

These decisions may not always be or seem just but we must place our trust in God and love one another.